SOLVED 290 Tri-X or 280X Toxic ?!?

Hey guys since 290 Tri-X has finally launched , with pricing too !
At first I've already decided to settle down with the 280X Toxic , now since the 290 finally has an aftermarket cooler.
And the pricing its still sorta within my reach , SORTA

What Im agonizing about is, firstly I must state the pricing sold in my country

280X Toxic - 390 - 400$
290 Tri-X - 530$

So my biggest question is...is the 290 Tri-X really worth that extra 130$ compared to the 280X Toxic ?? I mean it's a HUGE gap in pricing !
130$ I can buy me like another 8GB of RAM / 2X more Noctua fans to complete my full Noctua build / 3 Original games at least ! and so much on...

I can't really find Benchmark to compare the 290 Tri-X up against the 280X Toxic , but rough estimation it's about 10 FPS faster in most games.
Though what really tempting to me now its the 290 has the new tech only in few selected GPU not to mention is the Astound Surround Sound , that really interested me too

Downside on the 290 is the looks IMO , no iron backplate , no LED light up Sapphire logo , the card looks lot " cheaper " compared to the 280X Toxic
I don't really like to think of products being " future " proof , but what's your opinion on this guys ?

280X Toxic or 290 Tri-X ?
Can we officially put the " Future Proof " stamp on the 290 Tri-X ?

PS : The 290 Tri-X too comes with a 15$ voucher to purchase any other stuffs from the shop I bought from. Also it's bundled with the new Battlefield 4

The 290 Tri-X handily beats a GTX 780, keeps up with and beats the Titan in some cases, and when overclocked can just about keep up with a stock GTX 780 Ti.
It's phenomenal value even at $530, and the 280X just is NOT competitively priced at $400. The 280X is essentially a rebranded 7970 Ghz edition, and would be a marginal upgrade for you at best.
Honestly, these AMD cards should hopefully come back down in price from the mining craziness before too much longer and the 280X should be back down to $300-$350 and the 290 back down to $400-450

So iLoki you will recommend the 290 Tri-X then ?

I heard of the mining caused the price to rose , but I think in my case it isn't because when the cards arrived here in my country the price are already as such
Least for the 280X Toxic , in USA originally it's sold only 350$ but it's already been selling for 390 - 400$ since Day 1 here
But since the 290 Tri-X just recently came out , Im not sure is this the actual price or is because due to Bitcoin mining.
But I think this is the Original pricing , since the 290 Reference Design it's been selling for 460$ since Day 1 here in my country
For now the Tri-X is price around 530$
So basically now the Tri-X version is being charge 60$ more
Which from reviews it's true that they are charging 50$ more for the cooler, but pricing has always been overpriced in my country lol.

290 (any 290) would be a much better option that an 280 imo. Stick the Tri-X on the 290 and there is no comparison. Plus if you look at the cost of a good aftermarket cooler for a 290 $60 is nothing.

I would wait for some non-reference cards with non-reference PCB. These Tri-X cards are just reference 290 with better cooler.

BugFreak said:

290 (any 290) would be a much better option that an 280 imo. Stick the Tri-X on the 290 and there is no comparison. Plus if you look at the cost of a good aftermarket cooler for a 290 $60 is nothing.

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True I guess. So far reviewers themselves too claim that currently Sapphire has one of the best cooler for the 290
Well it does runs on 3 fans though , but seems like PowerColor too is making one.
But for the 290X , but I think they will do the same for 290
Sadly though there's no one importing PowerColor GPU here

I did asked few of my friends for opinion too, they too suggested I best just go for the 290.
BUT , not instant on the day launch. Since my HD 7870 it's still able to kick some *** for now.
They said my best strategy now it's wait for bit longer. For the price might drop slightly or maybe even like a Vapor-X version or something stronger comes out by Sapphire and the price ain't far off ( Which mostly it isn't )

Hope I won't miss out on the Battlefield 4 bundle by the time I buy it , do you guys think the bundle will last long ?
Their Never Settle Bundle did last sometime indeed

PS : I do mean just by waiting like a Month of two later not like a Year lol

Woomack said:

I would wait for some non-reference cards with non-reference PCB. These Tri-X cards are just reference 290 with better cooler.

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Yeah , for Sapphire cards Dual-X or Tri-X are still sort of " 50% Reference " except the Cooler which is only aftermarket.

But I can't imagine like wao , that is if Sapphire plan to release it , Sapphire Vapor-X now with three fans

I couldn't even imagine if they do come out Toxic for the 290 and 290X !

Im still quite not clear about GPU manufacturing ,for those cards that's non reference PCB ones , like Vapor-X
Basically they only used the Hawaii Chip and the PCB , Chokes , VRM , Cooler etc it's all made by Sapphire themselves instead then ? ( Is Chokes and VRM the same thing , I think they are ?? )
Another reason for that is they able to increase the maximum Voltage to be use am I right ?

All Sapphire cards from previous series were just reference or not much changed reference cards with better cooling. I doubt they will release anything really good soon.
Better cards on non-reference PCB are expected in about a month.
I would wait for something like ASUS DC2 that at least should have better power section and isn't whistling under load so much like anything reference.

If you look at the top gfx series then Sapphire has almost reference design for even their best cards. Gigabyte except SOC cards have not much changed design too ( like +1 phase and better cooler ). PowerColor/Club3D/any other TUL brand are almost the same as reference. HIS have all reference except top model. MSI has Lightnings but except that I wouldn't touch their cards after what I saw in my last 7970 and gtx670 ( like too high voltages, whistling coils etc ).
To be honest 90% cards on the market are about the same and you pay more only for brand.
Overclocking options are also related to the card's design in this case as Sapphire has voltage limits pretty low and OCP/OVP always within AMD specification. The same for most cards except ASUS DC2/Matrix , MSI Lightning, Gigabyte SOC or if you look at Nvidia then EVGA Classified or Galaxy HoF.

Couple of days ago I sold 2 cards and now I'm waiting for a good non-reference R9 290X or GTX780Ti ( depends from price etc ).

Woomack said:

All Sapphire cards from previous series were just reference or not much changed reference cards with better cooling. I doubt they will release anything really good soon.
Better cards on non-reference PCB are expected in about a month.
I would wait for something like ASUS DC2 that at least should have better power section and isn't whistling under load so much like anything reference.

If you look at the top gfx series then Sapphire has almost reference design for even their best cards. Gigabyte except SOC cards have not much changed design too ( like +1 phase and better cooler ). PowerColor/Club3D/any other TUL brand are almost the same as reference. HIS have all reference except top model. MSI has Lightnings but except that I wouldn't touch their cards after what I saw in my last 7970 and gtx670 ( like too high voltages, whistling coils etc ).
To be honest 90% cards on the market are about the same and you pay more only for brand.
Overclocking options are also related to the card's design in this case as Sapphire has voltage limits pretty low and OCP/OVP always within AMD specification. The same for most cards except ASUS DC2/Matrix , MSI Lightning, Gigabyte SOC or if you look at Nvidia then EVGA Classified or Galaxy HoF.

Couple of days ago I sold 2 cards and now I'm waiting for a good non-reference R9 290X or GTX780Ti ( depends from price etc ).

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There isn't much of difference then in that case unless you go for the total
" badass " ones which will cost your a fortune !
But Im not an Overclocker , so I guess this won't have much affect , as long the card is able to have a long life span and actually performs as it suppose to be then I guess Im fine with it.

But still I guess I will wait bit while longer and see if there is anything else besides Tri-X for the 290

I wont deny it Im a supportive of Fanboytism ( I gonna get alot of hate for this I know LOL ), so no I not gonna buy ASUS even they are fully non-reference. Besides Sapphire is still cheaper , in terms of performance and cooling , past years I seen on reviews there isn't much difference.
But when comes to Overclocking and Life Span , Im not clear about this.
But as I said I don't OC , also I owned 2 Sapphire cards now , so far so good it didn't die on me before I change to new card. Same goes with all my friends.

Personally think if you can wait a few months buy neither. I was in the market for both the 280x and 290 until they all sold out and inflated by over 100$. Neither are good bang for there buck. You can get 2 270x for 400$ and that would very much outperform a 420$ 280x

Hishman said:

Personally think if you can wait a few months buy neither. I was in the market for both the 280x and 290 until they all sold out and inflated by over 100$. Neither are good bang for there buck. You can get 2 270x for 400$ and that would very much outperform a 420$ 280x

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Impossible in my pricing 1X 270X it's around 250 - 300$ here
Also Im using a M-ATX board , no space for Crossfire nor I like Crossfire setup.
I have a soundcard so no more slot.

My pricing here it's still ok , they are still following the original price.
But pricing here has been always overpriced , so it sounds like higher than it should but this is the pricing here. It's not been higher since launched.

But nvm about this , I made up my mind , I will just get a 280X Toxic to be safe and Bang for Buck.
Since 290 is 400 bucks more in my currency and it's only bout 10 - 15 FPS stronger in all games. I don't feel it's worth it.
Also it's been plague with terrible Black Screen problems which till now no one actually knows what's the cause of it , best I avoid it , it's HD 7870 all over again like my current HD 7870 that I was a victim of it before